Ammunition assembling machine



Aug. 25, 1953 w. s. REYNOLDS ET AL 2,649,832

AMMUNITION ASSEMBLING MACHINE Filed June 19, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l y" ATTOHNE Aug. 25, 1953 w. s. REYNOLDS ET AL 2,649,832

AMMUNITION ASSEMBLING MACHINE I: Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 19 1951 Sm YNYN M W F W W M I R 5 M WJ I V. B

Aug. 25, 1953 w, s, REYNOLDS ET AL 2,649,832

AMMUNITION ASSEMBLING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jun 19, .1951

INVENTORS WA fF/PE/V 5. REY/vows BY J0/-//v A. TURNER A 7'70RNE PatentedAug. 25, 1953 AMMUNITION ASSEMBLING MACHINE Warren S. Reynolds,Westport, Conn., and John R. Turner, Glen Mills, Pa., assignors toRemington Arms Company, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporationofDelaware Application June 19, 1951, Serial No. 232,356

7 Claims.

This invention relates to amrnunition assembly apparatus andcontemplates improvements in the speed and accuracy with which bulletsmay be inserted into shells previously primed and loaded with propellantpowder.

This invention is particularly adaptable to use with a continuouslyoperating cartridge loading machine comprising a plurality of separateturret stations interconnected by conveyor chains which serve the dualpurpose of driving the several turrets and transferring components beingoperated upon from one turret to the next. The general arrangement ofsuch a machine is shown in the patent to Johnson, $102,403,286, issuedJuly 2, 1946. A bullet swaging unit intended for this particular machineis shown in the patent to Reynolds et al., No. 2,538,707, issued January16, 1951, and a shell feed and mouth opening unit intended for thisparticular machine is shown in the patent to Reynolds et al., No.2,506,175, issued May 2, 1950. I

The present invention comprises a turret unit designed to beinterconnected with the units described in the two Reynolds patentspreviously mentioned, receiving on one level a chain carrying bulletsswaged in the machine of Patent No. 2,538,707 and on another levelshells which have been placed in holders in the chain by the machine ofPatent No. 2,506,175 and subsequently charged with powder in anotherunit not material to this invention. The particular function of thisinvention is to receive and align the bullet and shell and to insert thebullet within the mouth of the shell to a predetermined depth and inaccurate alignment therewith.

Accurate alignment of bullet and shell is the result of the use of areciprocating alignment die which embraces the mouth of the shell andguides the bullet thereinto. The arrangement by which these dies aremoved to engage the shell and to receive and guide the bullet forms themajor feature of this invention.

The exact nature of the invention as well as other objects andadvantages thereof will become apparent from consideration of thefollowing specification referring to the appended drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial vertical sectional view cutting through one of theturret stations in a location indicated by the line i--l in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a plan View partially in horizontal section on the line 22 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a simplified, partial, vertical sectional view correspondingto part of Fig. 1 taken at approximately the location 33 on Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 through 8' are views similar to Fig. 3 taken respectively atapproximately the locations indicated by the lines 4- 3, 55, B6, 'l'l,and 8-8 on Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, it may be seenthat the machine comprises a fixed base It on which there is fixedlysupported a vertical column H. On the column i I there are provided apair of suitable anti-friction bearings l2 capable of carrying endwisethrust as well as radial forces. These bearings carry a turretidentified generally by the numeral 13, which turret is provided with apair of annular sprockets l4 and 15.

As best seen in Fig- 2, a transfer and drive chain is wrapped upon eachsprocket and has the dual function of carrying components to beassembled into the unit and supplying the driving power for rotation ofthe turret. The uppermost of these chains, identified generally by thenumeral It, may be the same chain as that shown in Patent No. 2,538,707,previously referred to herein, and is provided with a series of spacedtransfer fingers ll arranged to carry bullets from the machine of thatpatent to the present unit.

Most conveniently, the chain and the rubberlike transfer fingers I! arethose illustrated in Fig. 8 of the patent.

The lowermost of these chains, identified generally as I8, may be. thesame as the chain shown in Patent No. 2,506,175, previously referredto,although we prefer to provide in the transfer plates !9 a bushing 20 ofneoprene or other oil resistant rubberlike material to support thecartridge shell.

The sprockets and the positions of the transfer plates on the chains areso related that, when both chains have been wrapped upon the turret, theshell carried by the lower chain and the bullet carried in the upperchain will be substantially in axial alignment.

As in the case of the machines of the patents referred to, each turretis provided with a plurality of work stations which are in axialalignment with the positions to which the chains transfer the successiveworkpieces. The view shown in Fig. 1 cuts vertically through one ofthose work stations.

In the upper sprocket a guide bushing 2! is provided at each workstation as a guide for a seating punch 22 mounted in a reciprocablepunch holder 23. These punch holders 23 are guided for reciprocation invertical bores in the turret and are attached in pairs to cross-heads24, each of which is provided with a cam roller 25. The cam rollers runin a cam track 26 formed in a drum 2! fixedly secured to the top of thecolumn H. The cam track is formed to cause vertical reciprocation of thepunch holders in a predetermined sequence, to be later discussed indetail, as the turret is rotated relative to the column.

Alignment dies 28 are mounted in pairs in reciprocable carriers 29 whichare, in turn, supported on slide rods 30 extending downwardly throughthe lower sprocket where they are coupled in pairs to crossheads 3|. Thelower crossheads, like the upper, each carry a cam roller 32 whichfollows a cam track 33 in a drum 34 fixedly secured to the base of themachine. As the turret rotates relative to the base, this cam causes thevertical reciprocation of the alignment dies to appropriate positions tobe later described.

The series of Figs. 3 through 8, considered with Fig. 1 as part of thesequence, show the major steps in the operating cycle. Referringparticularly to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be apparent that the lower chainl8 carrying the upstanding powder filled shell cannot wrap onto theturret sprocket until the seating punch and alignment die are raisedclear out of the way. Accordingly, in the region where the lower chainwraps on, both cams have a dwell holding both alignment die and seatingpunch in their uppermost position. Fig. 3 shows the relationship ofthese parts just after the lower chain has wrapped onto the turret.

With the lower chain wrapped on, the alignment dies are lowered over thecartridges held in the lower chain descending to a position somewhatlower than that shown in Fig. 1 in order to clear the heel of a bulletheld in the upper chain as the upper chain wraps on. Immediately afterthe upper chain wraps on, the alignment dies are raised into contactwith the lower face of the transfer fingers on the upper chain. It isthis position which is shown in Fig. 1.

The next step is illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein the punch has been moveddown to transfer the bullet from the transfer fingers l1 into the throatof the alignment die, advantage being taken of the flared mouth 35 tocorrect any slight misalignment in the transfer fingers.

As seen in Fig. 5, the next step is to simultaneously move both punchand alignment die downwardly to seat the bullets in the mouth of theshell in the proper location. Since the alignment die is telescopedsnugly over the shell and the bearing band portion of the bullet isseated accurately within the throat of the die, the alignment of bulletand cartridge shell cannot be very far from perfect.

To permit the upper chain to unwrap from the turret, the punch is nextretracted as shown in Fig. 6 and the punch is then returned into holdingrelation with the seated bullet as shown in Fig. '7 while the closelyfitted alignment die is raised to the topmost position. In this way, theassembled cartridge is prevented from sticking in the alignment die.Lastly, as shown in Fig. 8, the punch is retracted and the lower chaincarrying an assembled cartridge unwraps from the turret to pass tosubsequent units for crimping, final inspection, etc.

Thus, as the turret is driven in rotation, the chains wrap onto it andthe bullet guide and seating punch at each station are operated by thestationary cams to go through the cycle described above without at anytime interrupting the continuity of rotation of the turret. Although anumber of Widely separated positions have been shown, it should beevident that the cams are so formed as to gradually slow and reverse thereciprocating punch and bullet guide. The absence of violentreciprocation results in greater accuracy and freedom from vibration.

Although we have here shown and specifically described only oneembodiment'of our invention, it will be recognized that equivalentconstructions may readily be made. Accordingly, we wish it to beunderstood that we consider our invention to extend to all suchequivalent devices as are included within the scope of the claimsappended hereto.

We claim:

1. In a machine for the insertion of a first workpiece into a secondcupped workpiece, the combination comprising a separate chain conveyorfor each class of workpieces, each conveyor including a plurality ofsimilarly spaced individual workpiece embracing receptacles; a fixedbase; a continuously revolving turret mounted on said fixed base, saidturret being engaged by and rotatable with said chain conveyors, saidconveyors being spaced on said turret in a direction parallel to theaxis thereof and so wrapping upon portions of the periphery of saidturret having a common diameter as to successively dispose receptacleson one conveyor substantially in axial alignment with receptacles onsaid second conveyor; a plurality of punches reciprocably mounted onsaid revolving turret, there being one such punch in alignment with eachof said pairs of aligned receptacles; and punch operating meanscomprising a single cam fixed to said base; and cam followers mounted onsaid turret and riding on said cam, said followers being coupled to saidpunches to successively reciprocate said punches through the receptaclescarrying said first workpieces to transfer first workpieces into secondworkpieces.

2. In a machine for the insertion of a first workpiece into a secondcupped workpiece, the combination comprising a separate chain conveyorfor each class of workpieces, each conveyor including a plurality ofsimilarly spaced individual workpiece embracing receptacles; a fixedbase; a continuously revolving turret mounted on said fixed base, saidturret being engaged by and rotatable with said chain conveyors, saidconveyors being spaced on said turret in a direction parallel to theaxis thereof and so wrapping upon portions of the periphery of saidturret having a common diameter as to successively dispose the workpiececarrying receptacles on the separate conveyors in longitudinally spaced,substantially axial alignment; alignment dies reciprocably mounted onsaid turret and movable thereon into position between said workpiececarrying receptacles to guide a first workpiece into a second workpiece;a plurality of punches reciprocably mounted on said revolving turret,there being one such punch in alignment with each of said pairs ofreceptacles and the die therebetween and punch operating meanscomprising a. single cam fixed to said base; and cam followers mountedon said turret and riding on said cam, said followers being engaged withsaid punches to suecessively reciprocate said punches through thereceptacles carrying said first workpieces and at least partiallythrough said alignment dies to transfer first workpieces into secondworkpieces.

3. Apparatus as described in claim 2, said alignment dies beingreciprocable on said turret along lines parallel to the axial alignmentof said receptacles; die push rods; and die operating means comprising asecond cam fixed to said base; and cam followers engaged with said pushrods and riding on said second cam, the camming surface on said secondcam being so formed as to reciprocate said dies toward said secondworkpieces and into telescoping engagement therewith only after theconveyor for said second workpieces has wrapped onto said turret.

4. Apparatus as described in claim 3, the conveyor carrying said firstworkpieces wrapping onto said turret at a location circumferentiallyspaced in the direction of turret rotation beyond the location in whichsaid conveyor carrying said second workpieces wraps on, said secondfixed cam being formed to cause said dies after reciprocating intotelescoping engagement with said second workpieces to have a returnmovement into partial telescoping engagement with said first workpiecesafter the conveyor carrying same has wrapped upon the turret.

5. Apparatus as described in claim 4, said second fixed cam being alsoformed, after a dwell in which said die means is in telescopingengagement with both workpieces, to impart a further movement to saiddie means in a direction away from said second workpieces to return thedie means to a position completely clear of the assembly of first andsecond workpieces to permit the chain conveyor carrying said assembly tounwrap from the periphery of said turret.

6. In a machine for the insertion of a first workpiece into a secondcupped workpiece, the combination comprising a separate chain conveyorfor each class of workpieces, each conveyor including a plurality ofsimilarly spaced individual workpiece embracing receptacles; a fixedbase; a continuously revolving turret mounted on said base, said turretbeing engaged by and rotatable with said chain conveyors, said conveyorsbeing spaced on said turret in a direction parallel to the axis thereofand so wrapping upon portions of the periphery of said turret having acommon diameter as to successively dispose the receptacles on oneconveyor substantially in axial alignment with the receptacles on saidsecond conveyor; a plurality of alignment dies mounted on the turret forreciprocation in the space between said aligned receptacles and alongthe axis of said receptacles; push rods for said dies; a single die camfixed on said base; cam followers riding on said die cam and operativelyengaged with said push rods to successively reciprocate said dies as theturret rotates relative to said fixed base, said cam being so shapedthat the reciprocation of each of said dies in turn shall be first intoone extreme position to permit the chain carrying one class ofworkpieces to wrap onto the turret, second, into position telescopedover workpieces of said one class and clear of the path of workpieces ofthe other class to permit the chain carrying said workpieces of theother class to wrap onto the turret, and third, into partial telescopingrelation with both workpieces to guide one class of workpieces into theother class of workpieces; a plurality of punches mounted on the turretfor reciprocation on the axes of said aligned receptacles and alignmentdies; a punch cam fixed on said base; punch cam followers riding on saidpunch cam and operatively engaged with said punches to successivelyreciprocate said punches through the receptacles carrying one class ofworkpieces and at least partially through said alignment dies as theturret rotates relative to said fixed base, said punch cam being sodisposed relative to the die cam and so shaped as to advance the punchto insert one workpiece into the other workpiece during said thirdperiod in which the die is in partial telescoping relation with both ofsaid workpieces.

7. The combination described in claim 6, said punch cam being so shapedand so disposed relative to the die cam as to hold the punch in advancedposition in engagement with a first workpiece seated in a secondworkpiece while said alignment die is retracted to the position of saidfirst period.

WARREN S. REYNOLDS.

JOHN R. TURNER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 602,837 Dollfus Apr. 26, 1898 1,302,185 Leming Apr. 29, 19191,403,879 Taliaferro Jan. 17, 1922 2,510,568 Fouse June 6, 1950

